You can add my 2017 California to the list of broken exhaust components, 17600 miles. I was both fortunate and unfortunate as to when and where it happened; unfortunate in that I was 1500 miles away from home, and fortunate that my return route allowed me to make a slight detour to GT Motorcycles to get the replacement parts fitted. The pipe split on a Monday afternoon. I emailed Todd to see if he had a replacement available, which he did, and I could schedule it to be installed on Thursday morning when I was passing through.
I was able to band-aid the system together using the hose clamp setup that kdirtrider posted on page 3 of this thread. I did not use the muffler tape as I was planning on just replacing the h-pipe and didn't want a bunch of melted tape on the header. The hose clamps sealed things back up reasonably well enough to make the trip from Tucson to Orange without issue. I wasn't able to get any pictures of the setup, but the way the pipe breaks at the weld allows it to seat and seal decently for a temporary fix.
I had intended to just replace the h-pipe. After disassembly, we discovered a large crack in the heat shield on the header right in the middle of the bend downward from the exhaust port. I knew the crack was just going to spread and cause buzzing and rattling, so I went ahead and had the headers replaced as well. I went with the brushed stainless for ease of maintenance, and also had the mid-pipe installed to retain the heat shields. Some may not like the look, but form follows function for me in this case. I'll see if I can get some photos tomorrow at some point.
The quality of the parts is great, the headers are port matched and then step up slightly for further tuning of the exhaust flow. Even with the Lafranconi mufflers with the baffle installed, I noticed smoother operation and better response in the 2500-4500 RPM range.
If anyone is wondering if a newer bike is susceptible to the h-pipe failure, I'm sad to say it is. I highly recommend to replace it before it breaks. Better yet, just replace the headers before other things happen as well, since the same inferior steel is used all the way to the mufflers. I am very happy with the results. Even better, I was back on the road before lunch with plenty of time to get to my next destination.
Dave
I was able to band-aid the system together using the hose clamp setup that kdirtrider posted on page 3 of this thread. I did not use the muffler tape as I was planning on just replacing the h-pipe and didn't want a bunch of melted tape on the header. The hose clamps sealed things back up reasonably well enough to make the trip from Tucson to Orange without issue. I wasn't able to get any pictures of the setup, but the way the pipe breaks at the weld allows it to seat and seal decently for a temporary fix.
I had intended to just replace the h-pipe. After disassembly, we discovered a large crack in the heat shield on the header right in the middle of the bend downward from the exhaust port. I knew the crack was just going to spread and cause buzzing and rattling, so I went ahead and had the headers replaced as well. I went with the brushed stainless for ease of maintenance, and also had the mid-pipe installed to retain the heat shields. Some may not like the look, but form follows function for me in this case. I'll see if I can get some photos tomorrow at some point.
The quality of the parts is great, the headers are port matched and then step up slightly for further tuning of the exhaust flow. Even with the Lafranconi mufflers with the baffle installed, I noticed smoother operation and better response in the 2500-4500 RPM range.
If anyone is wondering if a newer bike is susceptible to the h-pipe failure, I'm sad to say it is. I highly recommend to replace it before it breaks. Better yet, just replace the headers before other things happen as well, since the same inferior steel is used all the way to the mufflers. I am very happy with the results. Even better, I was back on the road before lunch with plenty of time to get to my next destination.
Dave
